Argentina has launched its first home-built satellite into orbit. The ArSat-1 is designed to deliver a wide range of telecommunications, data transmission, telephone and television services across all of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The satellite was sent into space along with the Intelsat DLA-1 satellite inside a SYLDA payload adapter aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket on Thursday night. Both satellite are expected to remain in orbit for roughly 15 years.
The rocket lifted off midway through a 51-minute launch window that was available starting at 21:44 GMT, according to NASA. The Ariane 5 ECA (Cryogenic Evolution type A) has the same general architecture as the Ariane 5 Generic launcher, but with improvements to increase its thrust capability and an increased capacity to carry heavier payloads.
The Intelsat DLA-1 was riding as the upper passenger and was deployed first. According to Space Flight Insider, the satellite is equipped with 72 Ku-band transponders and 10 C-band transponders. The satellite was built for international operator Intelsat by SSL (Space Systems/Loral). The DLA-1 – together with the DLA-2 satellite that will be lofted on a future flight – is designed to greatly expand direct-to-home entertainment offerings in Latin America, as well as provide data backup and restoration services.
The ArSat-1 was deployed six minutes after Intelsat DLA-1. It was built by roughly 500 scientists at a cost of $250 million for Argentine satellite operator ARSAT (Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anonima) by the company INVAP. Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space were the leading equipment suppliers.
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